Roslindale instructor helps others through trauma informed yoga

Julie M. Cohen jcohen@wickedlocal.com

Friday

Apr 22, 2016 at 11:25 AMApr 22, 2016 at 11:25 AM

Speaking in a steady, gentle voice, Roslindale resident Theresa Okokon took the women in her yoga class through a series of slow stretches and poses. The participants were all ages, some doing the exercises on floor mats, others using chairs.

Okokon, 33, teaches a weekly trauma informed yoga class at Rosie’s Place, a sanctuary for poor and homeless women. She received the 2015 Kip Tiernan Social Justice Fellowship from Rosie’s Place, which awarded $40,000 to pay for Okokon’s classes for women at shelters and community centers across the city. The fellowship is awarded annually to fund a special project that will further the mission of Rosie’s Place, according to a press release.

Although some at Rosie’s Place had done yoga, she also found others who “think that yoga is some sort of occult practice,” she said.

She said that TIMBo training gave her “the foundation to understand how trauma impacts a person’s body and their brain.”

Okokon is also a social worker and has been working with homeless and low-income populations for more than a decade.

One of the most important aspects of her class is respect for others’ bodies and making sure her students feel comfortable.

“It’s not OK to be touched without permission,” she said.

As she walked around the women in the Rosie’s Place basement, she asked them in both English and Spanish if it was all right to put her hands on them briefly and rub essential oils on their foreheads. Wearing a green T-shirt that read “Peace on Earth,” Okokon also made sure to emphasize she would not be offended if they didn’t want her to do either.

When the lights came back on as the class finished, several women praised the experience.

“I love yoga. It’s a huge stress relief,” said Savannah S., 20. (It is the policy of Rosie's Place to not divulge the last names of their clients.)

Wearing a high braid, Nancy F. said she had done yoga before and was glad to get back into the practice.

“It relaxed me so much,” said the 60 year old, who admitted she might have drifted off at some point.

Ruthie W., 32, said she was interested in health and wellbeing and has attended Okokon’s classes before.

“I think this class is very beneficial,” she said.

Okokon knew she wanted to help vulnerable populations since 8th grade, when she volunteered at a domestic violence shelter where she played with the kids there. She immediately thought it was great that there are safe places for people in dire situations, and decided then on her life’s path.

Later, she worked at the front desk at a Green Bay homeless shelter where she completed intake paperwork.

She was struck by how easy it is to ignore homeless people or someone who is suffering.

“Working at the shelter gave me this different viewpoint,” she said, adding there are numerous reasons people become homeless.

She also realized that homeless people rarely have someone who listens to them.

“I like being the person who’s willing to slow down for them,” she said. “I like listening to people. I like hearing people’s stories.”

When the former Peace Corps volunteer’s program is over in August, she hopes to continue with Legit Yoga, the program she developed under the fellowship. She will now have to find funding that would support the specific locations so that she can keep teaching there.

Eventually she hopes to make Legit Yoga its own nonprofit to get her own funding.

Okokon added, “I want it to be basic and standard service that there’s a yoga class in every shelter,” to help women living there.

More information

To learn more about Legit Yoga, go to http://www.legityoga.org/ or https://www.facebook.com/LEGIT.yoga/.